TY - JOUR
T1 - Relative and absolute availability of healthier food and beverage alternatives across communities in the United States
AU - Zenk, Shannon N.
AU - Powell, Lisa M.
AU - Rimkus, Leah
AU - Isgor, Zeynep
AU - Barker, Dianne C.
AU - Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam
AU - Chaloupka, Frank
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, American Public Health Association Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/11/1
Y1 - 2014/11/1
N2 - Objectives. We examined associations between the relative and absolute availability of healthier food and beverage alternatives at food stores and community racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and urban-rural characteristics. Methods. We analyzed pooled, annual cross-sectional data collected in 2010 to 2012 from 8462 food stores in 468 communities spanning 46 US states. Relative availability was the ratio of 7 healthier products (e.g., whole-wheat bread) to less healthy counterparts (e.g., white bread); we based absolute availability on the 7 healthier products. Results. The mean healthier food and beverage ratio was 0.71, indicating that stores averaged 29% fewer healthier than less healthy products. Lower relative availability of healthier alternatives was associated with low-income, Black, and Hispanic communities. Small stores had the largest differences: relative availability of healthier alternatives was 0.61 and 0.60, respectively, for very low-income Black and very low-income Hispanic communities, and 0.74 for very high-income White communities. We found fewer associations between absolute availability of healthier products and community characteristics. Conclusions. Policies to improve the relative availability of healthier alternatives may be needed to improve population health and reduce disparities.
AB - Objectives. We examined associations between the relative and absolute availability of healthier food and beverage alternatives at food stores and community racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and urban-rural characteristics. Methods. We analyzed pooled, annual cross-sectional data collected in 2010 to 2012 from 8462 food stores in 468 communities spanning 46 US states. Relative availability was the ratio of 7 healthier products (e.g., whole-wheat bread) to less healthy counterparts (e.g., white bread); we based absolute availability on the 7 healthier products. Results. The mean healthier food and beverage ratio was 0.71, indicating that stores averaged 29% fewer healthier than less healthy products. Lower relative availability of healthier alternatives was associated with low-income, Black, and Hispanic communities. Small stores had the largest differences: relative availability of healthier alternatives was 0.61 and 0.60, respectively, for very low-income Black and very low-income Hispanic communities, and 0.74 for very high-income White communities. We found fewer associations between absolute availability of healthier products and community characteristics. Conclusions. Policies to improve the relative availability of healthier alternatives may be needed to improve population health and reduce disparities.
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U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302113
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302113
M3 - Article
C2 - 25211721
AN - SCOPUS:84907855616
SN - 0090-0036
VL - 104
SP - 2170
EP - 2178
JO - American journal of public health
JF - American journal of public health
IS - 11
ER -